Blog tour: Norah's Ark (review)

By

Welcome to the blog tour for Norah's Ark by Victoria Williamson!

More about the book…

Norah Day lives in temporary accommodation, relies on foodbanks for dinner, and doesn’t have a mum. But she’s happy enough, as she has a dad and a mini zoo of rescued wildlife to care for.

Adam Sinclair lives with his parents in a nice house with a private tutor and everything he could ever want. But his life isn’t perfect - far from it. He’s stuck at home recovering from cancer with an overprotective mum and no friends.

When a nest of baby birds brings them together as an animal rescue team, Adam and Norah discover they’re not so different after all.

Can they solve the mystery of Norah’s missing mother together? And can their teamwork save their zoo of rescued animals from the rising flood?

More about the author…

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning children’s author and primary school teacher from Scotland.

After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures and taught children and trained teachers in Malawi, Cameroon, and China and worked with children with additional support needs in the UK.

She previously volunteered as a reading tutor with The Book Bus charity in Zambia and is now a Patron of Reading with CharChar Literacy to promote early years phonics teaching in Malawi.

Victoria is passionate about creating inclusive worlds in her novels where all children can see themselves reflected.

Her books have won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award in 2020/2021, have been shortlisted for the James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Award in 2021, the Trinity Schools Book Award in 2021, the Yaldi Glasgow School Libraries’ Book Award in 2023, and have also been longlisted for the Branford Boase Prize and Waterstones Children’s Prize.

My impressions…

Heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time, Norah’s Ark is a beautiful story of family and friendship. The story of two children who, despite being polar opposites on the surface, share the same resilience in the face of hardship, and the same love of animals that will cement their relationship. Beautifully told through their own voices, this is a novel that will captivate adults and young readers alike. The author doesn’t shy away from issues such as poverty, homelessness and illness, but she deals with them in a sensitive way that is appropriate for the intended audience.

Three words to describe it. Heart-warming. Hopeful. Moving.

Do I like the cover? I love it!

Have I read any other books by the same author? Not yet, and I’m sure it’s entirely my loss!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Italy in books” - reading challenge 2011

By
Image
Why this challenge? This year I’ve decided to host a reading challenge because I think that they are a brilliant idea. They help to make reading a more collective experience and are a great way to find out more about any particular author / genre / topic and get to know about books you might never have come across. I chose this topic because - as an Italian who has been living abroad for many years now - I feel the need to learn more about my home country and I’m curious to see the difference between the way it is portrayed by native Italians and others. The details of the challenge The challenge will run from January, 1st 2011 to December, 31st 2011 . The aim of the challenge is to read at least 12 books that are set in Italy. Whether written by Italian authors or not, it doesn’t matter. They don’t have to be set exclusively in Italy but this country needs to play a significant role in the book. The challenge can include non-fiction books about Italy. You can also review Italian lea
Read more

Book review: She’s Never Coming Back

By
Image
By Hans Koppel Translated by Kari Dickson Published by Sphere It is safe to say that my choice of reading material is not usually truculent. That’s why I surprised myself when I decided to read a novel whose front cover prominently displays a quote describing it as a ‘terrifying crime novel’. I started to read expecting the worse and - it being impossible to put the book down - a few hours later I was trying to understand what had hit me. Let’s be clear: I loved this book and I’m grateful to Sphere for publishing this Swedish novel by author Karl Petter Lidbeck who, being a children’s literature author, decided to have it published under the pen name of Hans Koppel. I can see why he doesn’t want to have the two genres mixing on the bookshelves! The plot is simple enough: one day after work, Ylva does not return home. When she hasn’t returned 24 hours later, her husband Mike starts to worry and calls the police. Ylva seems to have disappeared without a trace and, month after month, Mike
Read more

In conversation with... T.M. Logan

By
Image
Hi Tim ! First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the publication of The Catch ! Can you please briefly tell us what it is about? A: The Catch is a psychological thriller about a father who becomes convinced his daughter is about to marry a man with terrible secrets. Terrified that his cherished only child is about to marry a man who is not what he seems, Ed sets out to uncover the truth - before it's too late. But as he delves deeper, he risks alienating everyone he loves and turning his whole family against him… Did you have the plot entirely figured out when you started writing the book or did it take an unexpected turn as the characters grew on the page? A: I had about two-thirds of the plot worked out in my head before I started, including some of the key turning points along the way. But the characters always bring out new elements to the story as I write it. I get to know the characters better during the writing – including how they relate to each other –
Read more